More context

Roseate spoonbills and wood storks forage in an effluent canal

The following links are provided to help set the framework for understanding the social setting for aquaculture. There are important facts here that everyone should learn. Be warned, however, that these web sites all tell the truth from their own perspective. Some information is outdated. Some is biased. As you read, be good scientists. Think objectively. Be skeptical. Look for alternative hypotheses and weigh the information you're given with the best data and evidence you can find.

Hopefully these links and other information will give you a sense of the historical nature of the aquaculture industry. Here in Illinois, we live in a landscape transformed by agriculture, a process that began 10,000 years ago. In our lifetimes, the sea is being transformed in the same way. The traditional hunter-gatherer fisheries capturing wild animals for food is giving way to aquaculture.

The unique difference between cultivated foods on the land and the sea is that aquaculture is occurring in a context where science, vastly superior technology, and an awareness of the need conserve and protect natural resources can guide its’ development from the outset. Just as terrestrial agriculture transformed humans and made civilization possible, aquaculture creates resources that have significant potential to alter not only human history, but the natural history of the planet.

Welcome to your part in an historical process.

Aquaculture organizations and news sources
https://www.was.org/Main/Default.asp
http://www.gaalliance.org/
http://www.shrimpnews.com/

Belizean shrimp aquaculture links
http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/agriculture/ridgetoreef.html
http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/aquaculture/grandma.html
http://www.balshrimp.com/
http://www.fao.org/fishery/countrysector/naso_belize


Belizean history, culture, language, newspapers and environment
http://www.kriol.org.bz/index.htm
http://www.amandala.com.bz/
http://healthyreefs.org/
http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/mesoamericanreef/

2006 Slate article regarding shrimp aquaculture
http://www.slate.com/id/2134219/

Shrimp aquaculture ecocertification dialogues
http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/aquaculture/WWFBinaryitem8614.pdf
http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/aquaculture/dialogues-shrimp.html

Environmental critics of shrimp farming
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1500
http://www.mindfully.org/Water/2004/Aquaculture-Blue-RevolutionJan04.htm
http://www.mangroveactionproject.org/